Writing songs for my stories

While I was working on my story, The Blue of Heaven, I started hearing something in my mind that has now turned into a song.

When I finish the lyrics and the recording (and I thank God for my son, who is so good at both traditional and digital recording), I will include this song when I release my short story collection as an e-book. I will embed the song somewhere in Blue to give you another way to experience my character. I plan to do this with other stories, too. Once we have something ready for you to hear, I’ll upload a clip to my Audio page.

Songs within stories — it’s a new idea for me. What do you think?

Years ago, songwriting and singing was it for me. My goal was to record albums of songs that I wrote, become a star, win a Grammy, be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and take care of my family with all the money I made. During the pursuit, though, I became the type of person you have to become when those are your only goals in life.

Self-centered. Extremely self-centered.

My priorities changed when I became a mother, which led me to once again think about God. A year later I became a Christian, and I began to look at life differently through my new faith. For a while, I continued to sing in bands with my husband, but eventually I fell in love with motherhood and old hymns, and I left the pop music scene behind.

I’ve sung as a soloist and in my church choir since I joined it 20 years ago, and the appetite for stardom through my musical talents has never returned. I’ve been satisfied with the life God chose for me.

It’s Saturday afternoon. I’m working on a song, with my adult son taking care of the tech side of things. There’s a microphone on the table and soon I will record my voice singing a song I wrote.

You know, I never lost a love for singing and songwriting. I just dropped the love for trying to get to a fantasy place without thinking about the cost — for myself or for anyone else. And, believe me, that self-centeredness cost me things that fill me with shame when I think of them.

So, here we are today: I’m writing stories. I’m writing songs. I hope you like them. I hope you share them.

Darla McDavid

I'm Darla, a writer of stories about family, friends, goodness, and God. I love cats, coffee, gardening, and tall stacks of books. Click here to subscribe to my blog. You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram. In my other life, I'm an administrative professional, a Sunday School teacher for preschoolers, and the proud mother of Dan.

Oh, Darla, when I was editing/reworking parts of my novel for my agent, I came across a series of classical pieces that kept me going. One was a perfect image in mind of the opening scene, the girl in the basement preparing the “gifts” for the dead, which she hated doing, while her father was upstairs putting on his uniform, duty belt and Kelvar vest, getting ready to go out on duty–which is the dream she had for herself to eventually be doing. The music was a perfect combination of back and forth, fitting them both, and it kept me focused and inspired while doing all the necessary work.
This post is close to my heart…and my writing experiences.

I can imagine you enjoying that music, especially when it seems to have fit perfectly with your story — which sounds so interesting and a bit sad. What were you listening to? I love listening to classical music when I write, and I’m now listening to movie soundtracks, too, to have that story feeling going in the background while I work.

WANT MY BLOG? SUBSCRIBE HERE

FEEDLY IS MY FAVORITE RSS READER. YOU SHOULD USE IT, TOO

ABOUT ME

I'm Darla, a writer of stories about family, friends, goodness, and God.

I love cats, coffee, and tall stacks of books. You can read more about me here.

The goal I have for my writing is to publish stories that make you think, stir your emotions, and leave you longing to share those stories with others. I have several works in progress, and you can find excerpts on my Shelf.